I have to admit I"m a little insulted by tone of this response.  I find it ironic that open-mindedness is appreciated, but the idea of using children's books is not included in that open-minded attitude. 
 
I do selectively use children's books.  I use them because as an adult some of my favorite books are still children's books and I use them when I teach English speakers other subjects as well as language arts.  As far as my students being insulted, I have never had a student who complained.  A lot of it may be in the presentation.  
 
The use of children's books has to be done with an understanding of your goals and the goals of your students, of course.  Some books I present because they are part of the culture - "I do not like them Sam I am"  and "It's fun to have fun but you have to know how" are phrases from Dr. Seuss, used outside their original storybook context, for example.  

Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day is one of my and my students' favorite books, because it reminds us that bad days happen and happen regardless of where you live ("even in Australia")  (and how your attitude is in the  morning really affects how you see the rest of the day.)

Some bilingual books, like The Upside Down Boy and I Love Saturdays y Domingos I use because my students are mainly parents, and these books address issues that their children may be experiencing.
 
David Schwarzer said that if the teacher likes to dance, everyone dances.  Maybe that's part of the key.  I love children's books.  I continue to read them as an adult.  I have a large personal collection of books from which my students voluntarily (ie., ASK) to borrow.  If the teacher, however, dislikes children's books, then clearly he or she should not use them, because that dislike will be transmitted to the students and clearly will not be an effective teaching tool.
 
In short, I respect your decision to not use children's books and your reasons, but I also ask that you consider the possiblity that the use of children's books is not as "insulting" or degrading as you might think, depending on how and why they are used.
 
 
 

Grace and Peace!
Glenda Lynn Rose, PhD

512-789-5131 (cell)
glyndalin at yahoo.com

 

--- On Tue, 12/2/08, Jose Perez <joseperez3338 at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Jose Perez <joseperez3338 at gmail.com>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3214] Re: I don't understand the current thinking behind teaching reading to adults!
To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List" <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 9:19 PM

Ali,

Thank goodness for young, innovative, open-minded, "thinking outside
the box" individuals like you. We need more future educators like you,
so I want to thank you for your very astute observations and comments.

In my humble opinion, there is no place for children's books in an
adult class--whether it's an ESL class or an ABE class. It is
insulting, degrading and humiliating for adults, males especially, to
be handed children's books. It is a mistake many educators make. Maybe
it's because they don't realize the stigma and unfortunate humialition
these adults go through just admitting that they can't read, or how
hard it is to learn the (complicated) English language when your
native language is, say, Spanish. So I applaud you for not stooping to
giving your adult students children's books.

I know I've said this before, but I am most likely one of their
biggest fans. Have you tried the Junkyard Dan series by Nox Press?
These are books written on a first-grade reading level, but are for
adults and are not the typical condescending, dated, boring books that
we usually give these students. They are crime dramas. I use these
books with great success, and my students can't get enough of them. I
think that as a young, innovative educator, who seems to have a full
understanding on why our current ways are, on a whole, not effective
and not working very well for our adult students, if you visit the Nox
Press website, you will see what I am talking about. Your students
will thank you. But don't take my word for it. Check 'em out yourself!

Good luck in your future teaching carreer, and may you make many great
changes in your lifetime.

Jose Perez

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 2:56 PM, Ali Hesami <hesamiar at gmail.com> wrote:

> That's a great point, and exactly what I'm talking about. If we as

educators

> keep extrapolating on teaching methods for children because there are not

> many adult-specific methods, how can we ever hope to develop an

> adult-specific method? I think we can agree that adults of varying ages do

> not learn as children do, and have drastically different literacy needs.

>

> On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 1:45 PM, Bonnie Odiorne

<bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net>

> wrote:

>>

>> I don't know a lot about adult reading acquisition theories, but I

do know

>> that many researchers take what works for children and extrapolate,

since

>> little work has been done with adults. The most important issue would

be

>> content, as folks have mentioned, and how the brain works, added to

the

>> adult's experience (possible trauma from illiteracy) and passive

oral

>> vocabulary. I've been taught a combination of choosing key words

to remember

>> initial letters and word patterns to help with sound/letter

correspondence;

>> language experience stories that the learner would dictate and could

then

>> "read" relatively quickly, and a quick development of sight

word vocabulary.

>> Also workplace or other realia that the learner needs to function. In

>> relation to using children's books or techniques (the Wilson

method comes to

>> mind) I'd do it only if reading to children was one of the

adult's goals;

>> otherwise learners can make their own picture books with doodles and

>> accompanying text limited to their level and interest. I do have

direct

>> experience with taking a Methods and Materials ESL class whose

professor's

>> only knowledge of adult learners was of graduate assistants in her

>> University, though she claimed adult learning as her specialty;

otherwise

>> her materials came right out of chldren's contexts and K-12

methodology; she

>> didn't appreciate my more "practical" methods and

materials that didn't have

>> communicative language games....

>> Bonnie Odiorne, Post University Writing Center, Waterbury, CT

>>

>> --- On Tue, 12/2/08, Ali Hesami <hesamiar at gmail.com> wrote:

>>

>> From: Ali Hesami <hesamiar at gmail.com>

>> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3184] I don't understand the current

thinking

>> behind teaching reading to adults!

>> To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov

>> Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 12:29 AM

>>

>> Hello all.

>> My name is Ali Hesami, and I am currently a graduate student in the

adult

>> literacy program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond,

Virginia.

>> I've been attending a class called "Teaching Reading to

Adults" as part of

>> my required curriculum, and I have been wondering about the current

methods

>> used to teach reading to adults. It seems to me that the teacher teach

>> adults just as they would teach children, often even using research

and

>> writing on teaching reading to children as guidelines.

>> While I understand the usefulness of phonics, phonetics, etc. by

>> themselves, I firmly believe that an adult can better benefit from

learning

>> to read by simply reading in a classroom environment, guided by

teachers,

>> tutors, etc. An adult in his or her 40s or even 50s simply should not

have

>> to sit through long sessions of syllable by syllable instruction if

all they

>> desire id to be better able to communicate with others and better

express

>> their opinions about the world surrounding them.

>> I speak from experience here. I began learning English as a 14 year

old in

>> an international school in Tanzania. I placed into the 9th grade to

start;

>> no one ever even approached phonics, phonemes, etc. I read and

listened, all

>> the while guided by teachers who helped me with the material at hand.

I

>> became conversational in about three months or so, while I worked on

my

>> writing, also with guidance from my teachers. Conversely, while in

school in

>> my native Tehran, Iran, I was taught English in a similar manner as

here,

>> and I spoke a grand total of three phrases when I left Iran for

Tanzania:

>> Hello, Fine thank you, and Beg your pardon? I'm not even joking

here!

>> I admit as a 14 year old I had an advantage over adults here, but I

can't

>> help but wonder if what worked for me would help adults much more than

>> playing word games and reading children's books.

>> Let's have them read material they can identify with in some way,

and keep

>> them reading, while slowly working on their writing skill alongside.

>> Let me know any thoughts, ideas, criticisms, etc. It has been eating

away

>> at me for a few months now.

>> Thanks in advance,

>> Ali Hesami

>> hesamiar at gmail.com

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------

>> National Institute for Literacy

>> Adult English Language Learners mailing list

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>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

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>> Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net

>>

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>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage

>> Email delivered to hesamiar at gmail.com

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

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> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov

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